All CCTV stations installed nationwide are working – FCT Minister

Abuja – FCT Minister Bala Mohammed, on Monday, says all the 600 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) stations installed across the country are working.

The minister made the disclosure when he spoke as guest speaker at a leadership forum organised by Nigerian Newsworld and Nigerian Pilot Newspapers in Abuja.

However, the minister said, some areas were not captured in the original plan of the device.

He said the bombs that exploded recently in Nyanya, Abuja, could not be detected because the area was not captured in the original plan of the device.

“I wanted to carry out procurement for 500 CCTV units for the FCT but the Federal Government offered 1,000 units to be distributed to FCT, Lagos and several other cities.

“Now, we have more than 600 stations all over the country but Nyanya was not taken into consideration in the original plan but we are trying to provide the device in all the points of activities in FCT now.

“We are doing so much on security in collaboration with security agencies; the CCTV units are working in Abuja and they have been helping us to ensure that criminals are captured on time.’’

Mohammed noted that the Federal Government would not abandon any victim of bomb attacks and appealed to the public to be security conscious.

Speaking on the efforts of the Federal Capital Territory Administration at boosting the economy, he said the administration had so far attracted foreign investments to the tune of 2.5 billion dollars.

He said the administration was also working toward an Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of between N500 billion and N600 billion annually.

“We are indebted to the tune of N470 billion; we are looking at ways of having a revenue board so that we can have property tax, land premium and development control charges.

“These are the institutions that will raise our IGR, which can aid our ability to pay our debts; we have to develop a financial system such as what you have in Dubai,’’ he said.

In an interview, Mr Dennis Sami, the Publisher of Newsworld and the Nigerian Pilot, commended the minister for the giant strides to improve security in the FCT.

He said the minister’s explanations on some developments in FCT would inform the public on the efforts of the government at making living in the city easier. (NAN)